COLUMBUS, Ohio - Five health insurance companies announced Monday that they would offer coverage on the state exchanges in 19 Ohio counties that were left without insurance providers.
Plans from Buckeye Health Plan, CareSource, Medical Mutual of Ohio, Molina Health Care of Ohio and Paramount Health Care will be available in those counties in 2018 where all others providers had pulled out.
The 19 counties are: Coshocton, Crawford, Guernsey, Hancock, Harrison, Hocking, Holmes, Jackson, Knox, Lawrence, Logan, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Van Wert, Vinton, Williams and Wyandot. Approximately 11,000 Ohioans purchase coverage through the health care exchange in those counties.
“Knowing 20 counties might not have access to health insurance on the exchange in 2018, our team went to work with the companies to find a way through the challenge, and together we have identified a solution,” Ohio Department of Insurance Director Jillian Froment said. “Ohio has long had a strong insurance system and once again our insurers stepped up at an important time for thousands of Ohioans, taking unprecedented action to provide access to health insurance for Ohioans who otherwise were without options.”
The department says it continues to look at coverage options in Paulding County where no insurer is presently planning to sell an exchange product in 2018.